System and method for providing an information gateway

ABSTRACT

In a device and method to provide a gateway for the transfer of information between financial markets and customers, a processor is coupled to a customer system and to a financial market system. The processor receives transaction information from the customer system in a first format, converts it to a second format and transmits the transaction information to the financial market system. The processor receives an acknowledgment and a transaction confirmation from the financial market system in the second format, converts these to the first format and transmits the acknowledgment and the transaction confirmation to the customer system. The processor may also be coupled to a memory, where it stores tracking information relating to the transaction information, the acknowledgment and/or the transaction confirmation.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a system and method for providing agateway for the transfer of information between financial markets(exchanges) and customers. More specifically, the present invention isdirected to a system and method for providing a gateway for the transferof information between one or more customer system(s) which utilize acommon protocol and one or more financial market (exchange) system(s)which utilize the same and/or different protocols that differ from thecommon protocol.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

To transfer information between two systems, i.e., a customer system anda financial market (exchange) system, that utilize different protocolsor languages, it is necessary to manually extract the raw data from theone system and manually enter that data into the other system. Tradinginterface systems implemented by brokerages utilize such a dual system.One system is used to communicate on the client side for receivingtransaction information, e.g., orders, and transmitting transactioninformation, e.g., acknowledgments, confirmations and historical data.The other system is used to communicate on the market (exchange) side totransmit transaction information, e.g., place orders, and to receivetransaction information, e.g., acknowledgments and confirmations.

The current methodology or manual system requires duplication ofinformation entry. Currently, customers who wish to trade (buy and/orsell) financial instruments (i.e., securities, stocks, bonds),currencies, commodities, REITs, options, futures, etc., on financialmarkets (exchanges) must either communicate directly, e.g., bytelephone, with a broker to place an order or be connected to a brokerelectronically, for example, via computer or terminal. Upon receipt ofan order the broker must manually enter the order information fortransfer to and execution by the relevant financial market (exchange),e.g., NYSE, NASDAQ, TSE, CBOE, etc.

Once an acknowledgment is received from the relevant financial market(exchange), the broker must then either manually reenter thatinformation for transmission to the customer's computer or terminal, orcall the customer and indicate that acknowledgment of the order wasreceived from the relevant financial market (exchange). Upon receipt bythe broker of a message from the relevant financial market (exchange)confirming execution, partial execution or non-execution of the order,the broker must then once again either manually reenter that informationfor transmission to the customer's computer or terminal, or call thecustomer and indicate that the order was either executed, partiallyexecuted or not executed by the relevant financial market (exchange).

Additionally, there are currently markets such as the bond market wheretrading is not implemented electronically, i.e., there are no computeror other systems linking brokers to their clients or to any markets(exchanges). Thus, in these situations all information must betransferred orally and recorded manually both between the customer andbroker and between the broker and the market (exchange).

When using a computer or terminal to communicate between a customersystem and a broker system when executing transactions in the equitiesmarkets (on the equities exchanges), there is a protocol, the FinancialInformation Exchange (FIX) that has been accepted and implemented bymany brokerage houses as a common, standard protocol for all electronictransfers of transaction information. All electronic communicationsbetween customers and brokers are formatted according to the FIXprotocol.

However, in the equities markets, the various exchanges each utilizeproprietary protocols governing communications between the exchange andbrokers who are electronically connected to and who transact business onthe exchange. For example, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) uses theCommon Message Switch (CMS) format, while the Toronto Stock Exchange(TSE) uses the Securities Trading Access Message Protocol (STAMP)format.

Thus, any broker wishing to transmit transaction information, e.g., senda customer's order, to an exchange must take the order received from thecustomer (i.e., in FIX protocol) and reenter it into the broker's systemwhich interfaces with the relevant exchange (using a differentprotocol), thereby allowing the order to be understood by the exchange'ssystem.

This is a difficult and time consuming process which is prone to errorssince the same information must be manually entered by an operator twicefor a transaction to be processed.

There is a need for a system and method whereby a broker can receivetransaction information from a customer electronically, e.g., viacomputer or terminal, and transfer that transaction informationelectronically to a financial market (exchange) without having tomanually reenter the transaction information. Additionally, there is aneed for a system and method whereby a broker can receive transactioninformation, e.g., an acknowledgment and/or a confirmation, from amarket (exchange) and transfer that transaction informationelectronically to a customer, e.g., via computer or terminal, withouthaving to manually reenter the transaction information.

Furthermore, there a need for a system and method whereby a broker canautomatically translate transaction information received electronicallyfrom a customer in a certain protocol or language into a protocol orlanguage compatible with the system used by the market (exchange) towhich the transaction information is transmitted, and vice versa.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention alleviates these difficulties and solves theseproblems with a system and method for providing a gateway for thetransfer of information between one or more customer system(s) which allutilize a common protocol and one or more financial market (exchange)system(s) which each utilize the same and/or different protocols thatdiffer from the common protocol used by the customer system(s).

The present invention also provides for a system and method whereby abroker can receive transaction information from a customer placedelectronically, for example, via computer or terminal, and transmit thetransaction information electronically to a financial market (exchange)without the need to manually reenter the transaction information.Additionally, the present invention provides for a system and methodwhereby a broker can receive transaction information, for example, anacknowledgment and/or a confirmation, electronically from a market(exchange) and transmit that transaction information electronically to acustomer, for example, via computer or terminal, without the need tomanually reenter the transaction information.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a system and method wherebya broker can automatically translate transaction information receivedelectronically from a customer in a certain protocol or language into aprotocol or language compatible with a system used by a financial market(exchange) to which the transaction information is transmitted, and viceversa.

The system according to the present invention includes a gateway whichreceives and transmits transaction information from/to at least onecustomer system, receives and transmits transaction information from/toa plurality of markets (exchanges), and translates transactioninformation from a first protocol, i.e., format and/or language, into atleast a second protocol and vice versa.

More specifically, the system according to the present inventionincludes a gateway which receives transaction information from andtransmits transaction information to one or more systems, for example,located at one or more customers and/or one or more brokers, and from/toone or more systems, for example, located at one or more financialmarkets (exchanges). The transaction information may be transmitted andreceived by the gateway, by the customer and/or by the financial market(exchange) electronically, or some other way such as via an opticallink. Customers and brokers are coupled to the gateway via acustomer/gateway interface and financial markets (exchanges) are coupledto the gateway via an exchange/gateway interface.

Transaction information may be entered and/or formatted in any number ofdifferent ways, including, for example, in spreadsheet format as asingle transaction or a number of transactions, as discrete groups orblocks of information, or directly as individual or single transactions.

The gateway may include components such as, for example, one or moremicroprocessors, one or more memories, one or more storage devices andone or more I/O devices.

The gateway receives the transaction information and processes theinformation. The processing may include, for example, separating theinformation corresponding to each respective transaction, identifyingeach transaction, formatting the transaction information, and/ortranslating, i.e., converting or modifying, the information from aprotocol, i.e., language and/or format used by the customer/gatewayinterface into one or more protocols, i.e., languages and/or formatsused by the exchange/gateway interface, and vice versa. The gateway mayalso create a data base including transaction information, storetransaction information in memory and/or send transaction information toa storage device.

The present invention may be implemented using any operating system,including, but not limited to Windows NT, Windows 95, UNIX, MAC, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention showing customer/gateway and exchange/gatewayinterfaces.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram showing the internal structure of thegateway according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a format for tracking data stored in memory as adata base according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing the operation of the gateway accordingto a first embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, and initially FIG. 1, there isillustrated a system diagram according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention. A gateway 1 which may be located, for example, at abroker's facility, can be implemented using, for example, server classPC, a mainframe computer, a microcomputer, or some other type ofprocessing system. The gateway 1 is coupled to one or more customersystem 2, which may be, for example, a microcomputer, mainframe computeror some other type of processing system where a customer may placeorders or transact business, via a customer/gateway interface 8 whichmay include some form of communications link using, for example,electronic or optical transmission of data, and which may be, forexample, a modem connection over a telephone line, LAN, WAN, Intranet,Internet, dedicated line, satellite link, optical link or some othertype of connection. The gateway 1 may additionally be coupled to othercustomer system(s) 4 via additional customer/gateway interfaces 10,and/or to broker system(s) 6, e.g., terminal(s) and/or computers, whichmay be located, for example, at the broker's facility or affiliatedfacilities, via other customer/gateway interfaces 12, e.g., modemconnection over a telephone line, LAN, WAN, dedicated line, satellitelink, optical link or some other type of connection. The brokersystem(s) can be used, for example, on trading desks or by sales peopleat the broker's facility for placing customer telephone orders or tradesfor in-house accounts such as mutual funds or hedge funds or for thebroker's own account.

All communications between the gateway 1 and the customer systems 2, 4and/or the broker system(s) 6 occur using a common protocol (formatand/or language), for example, Financial Information Exchange (FIX)protocol, which is in the public domain, commonly known and used as auniversal trader protocol, and is described in detail in for example,the FIX 4.0 specification and release notes issued by the Fix TechnicalCommittee, Jan. 13, 1996, and available at www.Fixprotocol.org which isincorporated herein by reference.

The gateway 1 is also coupled to one or more financial exchanges 16, 18,20, 22, for example, NYSE 16, NASDAQ 18, TSE 20, CBOE 22, which may be,for example, a microcomputer, mainframe computer or some other type ofprocessing system, where the exchange may receive and process orders,via an exchange/gateway interface 24, 26, 28, 30 which may include someform of communications link using, for example, electronic or opticaltransmission of data, and which may be, for example, a modem connectionover a telephone line, LAN, WAN, dedicated line, satellite link, opticallink or some other type of connection.

The communications between the gateway 1 and each exchange 16, 18, 20,22 occurs using a proprietary protocol (format and/or language) specificfor the relevant exchange. For example, the NYSE 16 uses CMS protocol,and TSE 20 uses STAMP protocol. Thus, any information transmitted fromthe gateway 1 to the NYSE 16 must be in CMS protocol, while anyinformation transmitted from the gateway 1 to the TSE 20 must be inSTAMP protocol.

The gateway 1 serves as the link or interface between the customersystems 2, 4 and/or broker system(s) 6, and the exchanges 16, 18, 20,22.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a block diagram of the internalstructure of the gateway 1 according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention. The gateway 1 includes a processor 50, which may be,for example, a microprocessor, a microprocessor array, or amicrocomputer. The processor 50 is coupled to a memory 52, for example aRAM, which is used to store information received from the customersystem(s) 2, 4 and/or broker system(s), and from the exchanges 16, 18,20, 22. The information stored in the memory 52 may include, forexample, transaction information, information relating to an orderplaced by a customer or broker, e.g., stock symbol, quantity, price,exchange, etc., acknowledgment information, and confirmationinformation. The information stored in memory 52 may be stored, forexample, in or as a data base or in any format desired.

The gateway 1 may also include a storage device 54, for example, a RAM,a hard drive, tape drive, ZIP drive, optical drive, holographic storagedevice, or any other type of storage device, coupled to the processor50. The storage device 54 may be internal to or physically locatedwithin the gateway system or may housed at a remote location.Alternatively, the memory 52 and the storage device 54 may be comprisedof a single device. The storage device 54 may be used to store, forexample, transaction information, information relating to an orderplaced by a customer or broker, e.g., financial instrument symbol,quantity, price, exchange, etc., acknowledgment information, andconfirmation information. The storage device 54 may be used, forexample, as a backup for the memory 52 and/or to archive historicalinformation.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a diagram of a format fortracking data stored in memory 52 as or in a data base according to afirst embodiment of the present invention. The tracking data data basemay include a number of lists or fields of information relating to thetransactions transmitted to the gateway 1 by a customer system. Column70 includes a list of the transaction number for each transactiontransmitted to the gateway 1. Column 72 includes a list of the symbolsfor the financial instruments comprising each transaction. Column 74includes a list of the type of transaction to be implemented, i.e., buy,sell, sell short, etc. Column 76 includes a list of the quantity of therespective financial instrument to be traded. Column 78 includes a listof the price at which the financial instrument should be traded. Column80 includes a list of the exchange on which the relevant financialinstrument is listed. Column 82 includes a list indicating for eachtransaction whether an acknowledgment has been received. Column 84includes a list indicating for each transaction whether a confirmationhas been received. Column 86 includes a list indicating status of theorder, i.e., rejected, accepted, filled, partially filled, etc. Column88 includes a list indicating the quantity of the financial instrumenttraded for each transaction. Column 90 includes a list indicating thenumber of financial instruments outstanding or remaining for eachrequested transaction. Column 92 includes a list indicating the price atwhich each unit was traded.

Alternatively, the data base may include fewer or more columns thanthose indicated and various columns may be combined or divided asdesired. Additionally, the information may be stored in some othermanner besides as a data base, including but not limited to being coded,stored as a data word, as compressed data, etc.

The data rates at the customer/gateway interfaces 8, 10 and/or 12 (asshown in FIG. 1) are approximately the same since they use a commonprotocol. The data rate between customer system(s) 2, 4 and/or brokersystem(s) 6, and the gateway 1 can be, for example, 56 Kbps.Alternatively, the data rates at customer/gateway interfaces 8, 10and/or 12 may vary. The data rates between the gateway 1 and theexchanges at exchange/gateway interface 24, 26, 28, 30 may be similar ormay vary, and can be, for example, 9600 bps. Whatever data rates areused, the memory 52 should be of sufficient capacity to store allreceived information without losing or over-writing any data.

Because of the differences in data rates between the customer/gatewayinterfaces and the exchange/gateway interface, the memory 52 may also beused as a buffer to store any transaction information that mayaccumulate while waiting to be transmitted to the exchanges, or tocustomers/brokers. Alternatively, a separate memory may be used tobuffer this transaction information.

Communications between the gateway 1 and customer system(s) 2, 4 andbroker system(s) 6 may also include some form of security such as, forexample, coding of information, time offsets and password protection, toinsure the integrity and secrecy of the information being transmitted.

The gateway 1 processes information, for example, by using one or moreprograms running one or more threads of execution (i.e., sharingresources) or by using multiple programs, such that multiple pieces ofinformation may be processed at the same time. The gateway 1 is,therefore, able to communicate with multiple customer system(s) 2, 4and/or broker system(s) 6, and with multiple exchanges 16, 18, 20, 22simultaneously. Each customer system and/or broker system that transmitsinformation, i.e., an order, to the gateway 1 is allocated a separatethread, i.e., a separate flag is set, and a separate program is invokedto process the information from that customer system and/or brokersystem.

The operation of the gateway, including processing of information can beunderstood more readily by referring to FIG. 4, which is a flow diagramof the gateway operation according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention. In step 100 transaction information, e.g., an order, isreceived from a customer system 2 by the gateway 1 in an common protocolsuch as, for example, FIX protocol. The order is processed in steps 102,104, 106 and 108. Because an order may include one or more transactionssuch as, for example, buying and/or selling equities, buying and/orselling futures, buying and/or selling bonds, buying and/or sellingoptions, etc., the processing should include a counting step 102 wherethe number of transactions is determined. The processing also includes astep 104 where flags are set for each separate transaction. There may bean additional step (not shown) where the information is provided withsome form of coding or identification so that the processor can identifyand match the information transmitted to the exchange system (i.e.,transaction information) with the information received from the exchangesystem (i.e., acknowledgment and confirmation information).

The processing further includes a step 106 where tracking data relatingto each transaction is written to a location, for example, in memory 52so that the gateway may keep track of each transaction. The trackingdata may be written, for example, in the form of a data base, and mayinclude information such as, for example, described above in relation toFIG. 3. Each transaction is then translated in step 108 from FIXprotocol into the proper protocol for the exchange to which it is to betransmitted.

For example, if the gateway 1 receives an order from a customer system 2containing three transactions (as shown in FIG. 3), i.e., (1) purchase100,000 shares of XYZ stock on the NYSE at $17/share, (2) sell 200,000shares of ABC stock on the TSE at $42/share, and (3) buy 1000 July putoptions for LMN stock at last asking price, the gateway 1 will count thenumber of transactions and set flags for each, i.e., three flags. Thegateway 1 will also write tracking data relating to each of the threetransactions into memory. The gateway 1 will then begin translating thefirst transaction from FIX protocol into CMS protocol, the secondtransaction from FIX protocol into STAMP protocol, and the thirdtransaction from FIX protocol into the proper protocol for the relevantoptions exchange.

The gateway 1 may run a separate sub-program for processing (includingtranslation) for each customer, or may otherwise process transactionsfor each customer individually. The processing of transactions for eachcustomer may occur simultaneously or consecutively since the gateway 1is capable of parallel processing, i.e., processing for each customersimultaneously.

Alternatively, the processing may include only some of the stepsdiscussed above or it may include additional steps such as, for example,error correction, data compression, etc.

When the processing of a transaction received from a customer system iscompleted, in step 110 the gateway 1 transmits the translated(reformatted) transaction information to the proper exchange. Thegateway 1 then receives an acknowledgment from the exchange, in step112, indicating that the transaction information has been received. Thegateway processes the acknowledgment in steps 114, 116 and 118. In step114 the gateway 1 translates the acknowledgment from the exchange'sprotocol into a common protocol such as, for example, FIX protocol. Instep 116 the gateway locates the tracking data in memory 52 relating tothe relevant transaction and updates the tracking data in memory 52. Instep 118 the gateway 1 transmits the acknowledgment information to thecustomer system 2.

Some time after the acknowledgment is received by the gateway 1, in step120 the gateway 1 receives a transaction confirmation from the relevantexchange. The transaction confirmation indicates the status of thetransaction and may include information such as, for example, financialinstrument symbol, order accepted and filled/partially filled orrejected, quantity, price, etc.

The gateway processes the transaction confirmation in steps 122, 124 and126. In step 122 the gateway 1 translates the transaction confirmationfrom the exchange's protocol into a common protocol such as, forexample, FIX protocol. In step 124 the gateway locates the tracking datain memory 52 relating to the relevant transaction and updates thetracking data in memory 52. In step 126 the gateway 1 transmits thetransaction confirmation to the customer system 2.

In step 128 the gateway transfers the contents of memory 52 relating totransactions for which transaction confirmations have been received intostorage device 54. The storage device 54 may be accessed by the customersystem(s) 2, 4 and the broker system(s) 6, and by the broker. Safetyfeatures in the gateway 1 only allow a customer system/broker systemaccess to the transactions placed by that customer system/broker system.

The system can accommodate and support any number of customers and/orbrokers as well as any number of financial markets (exchanges).

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for providing an information gatewaybetween a customer and a financial market comprising:a processor coupledto a customer system, and coupled to a financial market system, theprocessor programmed to:receive a first group of data from the customersystem, receive a second group of data from the financial market system,convert the first group of data into a third group of data, convert thesecond group of data into a fourth group of data, transmit the thirdgroup of data to the financial market system, and transmit the fourthgroup of data to the customer system; and a memory coupled to theprocessor, the processor programmed to transmit a fifth group of data tothe memory.
 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the fifth groupof data relates to the first group of data and to the fourth group ofdata.
 3. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a storagedevice coupled to the processor, the processor programmed to transmitthe fifth group of data to the storage device.
 4. The device accordingto claim 1, wherein the first and fourth group of data are in a firstformat.
 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the second and thirdgroup of data are in a second format.
 6. The device according to claim4, wherein the first format is FIX protocol.
 7. The device according toclaim 1, wherein the first group of data, the second group of data, thethird group of data and the fourth group of data are received andtransmitted electronically.
 8. The device according to claim 1, whereinthe first group of data, the second group of data, the third group ofdata and the fourth group of data are received and transmittedoptically.
 9. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first groupof data and the fourth group of data include transaction information.10. The device according to claim 9, wherein the transaction informationincludes information relating to a plurality of transactions.
 11. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein the second group of data and thethird group of data include at least one of acknowledgment informationand confirmation information.
 12. The device according to claim 1,wherein the processor is coupled to a plurality of customer systems andthe processor programmed to receive at least one first group of datafrom each of the plurality of customer systems, and wherein each of theat least one first groups of data are in the first format.
 13. Thedevice according to claim 1, wherein the fifth group of data is storedin memory in a data base.
 14. The device according to claim 1, whereinthe fifth group of data includes tracking information.
 15. A device forproviding an information gateway between at least one customer and aplurality of financial markets comprising:a processor coupled to atleast one customer system, and coupled to a plurality of financialmarket systems, the processor programmed to:receive at least one firstgroup of data from the at least one customer system, receive at leastone second group of data from at least one of the plurality of financialmarket systems, convert the at least one first group of data into atleast one third group of data, convert the at least one second group ofdata into at least one fourth group of data, transmit the at least onethird group of data to at least one of the plurality of financial marketsystems, and transmit the at least one fourth group of data to the atleast one customer system; and a memory coupled to the processor, theprocessor programmed to transmit at least one fifth group of data to thememory.
 16. The device according to claim 15, further comprising astorage device coupled to the processor, the processor programmed totransmit the at least one fifth group of data to the storage device. 17.The device according to claim 15, wherein the processor is coupled to aplurality of customer systems and the processor programmed to receive atleast one first group of data from each of the plurality of customersystems, and wherein each of the at least one first groups of data arein the first format.
 18. A device for providing an information gatewaycomprising:a processor coupled to at least one first system, and coupledto at least one second system, the processor programmed to:receive atleast one first group of data from the at least one first system in afirst format, receive at least one second group of data from the atleast one second system in a second format, convert the at least onefirst group of data from the first format into the second format,convert the at least one second group of data from the second formatinto the first format, transmit the at least one first group of data tothe at least one second system in the second format, transmit the atleast one second group of data to the at least one first system in thefirst format.
 19. The device according to claim 18, further comprising amemory coupled to the processor, the processor programmed to transmit atleast one third group of data to the memory.
 20. The device according toclaim 19, wherein the third group of data relates to the first group ofdata and to the second group of data.
 21. The device according to claim19, wherein the third group of data is stored in memory in a data base.22. The device according to claim 19, wherein the third group of dataincludes tracking information.
 23. The device according to claim 18,further comprising a storage device coupled to the processor, theprocessor programmed to transmit the third group of data to the storagedevice.
 24. The device according to claim 23, wherein the storage deviceis a tape drive.
 25. The device according to claim 18, wherein the firstprotocol is FIX protocol.
 26. The device according to claim 18, whereinthe at least one first group of data and the at least one second groupof data are received and transmitted electronically.
 27. The deviceaccording to claim 18, wherein the at least one first group of data andthe at least one second group of data are received and transmittedoptically.
 28. The device according to claim 18, wherein the at leastone first group of data includes transaction information.
 29. The deviceaccording to claim 26, wherein the first group of data includesinformation relating to a plurality of transactions.
 30. The deviceaccording to claim 18, wherein the at least one second group of dataincludes at least one of acknowledgment information and confirmationinformation.
 31. The device according to claim 18, wherein the processoris coupled to a plurality of first systems and a plurality of secondsystems, and the processor programmed to receive at least one firstgroup of data from each of the plurality of first systems, and whereineach of the at least one first groups of data are in the first format(protocol).
 32. The device according to claim 18, wherein the at leastone first system is a customer system and the at least one second systemis a financial market system.
 33. A method for providing an informationgateway between a customer and a financial market comprising the stepsof:receiving a first group of data from a customer system; receiving asecond group of data from a financial market system; converting thefirst group of data into a third group of data; converting the secondgroup of data into a fourth group of data; transmitting the third groupof data to the financial market system; transmitting the fourth group ofdata to the customer system; transmitting a fifth group of data to amemory.
 34. The method according to claim 33, wherein the fifth group ofdata relates to the first group of data and to the fourth group of data.35. The method according to claim 33, further comprising a storagedevice coupled to the processor, the processor programmed to transmitthe fifth group of data to the storage device.
 36. The method accordingto claim 33, wherein the first and fourth group of data are in a firstformat.
 37. The method according to claim 33, wherein the second andthird group of data are in a second format.
 38. The method according toclaim 36, wherein the first format is FIX protocol.
 39. The methodaccording to claim 33, wherein the first group of data, the second groupof data, the third group of data and the fourth group of data arereceived and transmitted electronically.
 40. The method according toclaim 33, wherein the first group of data, the second group of data, thethird group of data and the fourth group of data are received andtransmitted optically.
 41. The method according to claim 33, wherein thefirst group of data and the fourth group of data include transactioninformation.
 42. The method according to claim 41, wherein thetransaction information includes information relating to a plurality oftransactions.
 43. The method according to claim 33, wherein the secondgroup of data and the third group of data include at least one ofacknowledgment information and confirmation information.
 44. The methodaccording to claim 33, wherein a first group of data is received fromeach of a plurality of customer systems, and a second group of data isreceived from each of a plurality of financial market system.
 45. Themethod according to claim 33, wherein the fifth group of data is storedin memory in a data base.
 46. The method according to claim 33, whereinthe fifth group of data includes tracking information.
 47. A method forproviding an information gateway between at least one customer and aplurality of financial markets comprising the steps of:receiving atleast one first group of data from at least one customer system in afirst format; receiving at least one second group of data from at leastone of a plurality of financial market systems in a second format;converting the at least one first group of data from the first formatinto the second format; converting the at least one second group of datafrom the second format into the first format; transmitting the at leastone first group of data to at least one of the plurality of financialmarket systems in the second format; transmitting the at least onesecond group of data to the at least one customer system in the firstformat; and transmitting at least one third group of data to a memory.48. The method according to claim 47, further comprising a storagedevice coupled to the processor, the processor programmed to transmitthe at least one fifth group of data to the storage device.
 49. Themethod according to claim 47, wherein a first group of data is receivedfrom each of a plurality of customer systems in the first format.
 50. Amethod for providing an information gateway comprising the stepsof:receiving at least one first group of data from at least one firstsystem in a first format; receiving at least one second group of datafrom at least one second system in a second format; converting the atleast one first group of data from the first format into the secondformat; converting the at least one second group of data from the secondformat into the first format; transmitting the at least one first groupof data to the at least one second system in the second format; andtransmitting the at least one second group of data to the at least onefirst system in the first format.
 51. The method according to claim 50,further comprising the step of transmitting at least one third group ofdata to a memory.
 52. The method according to claim 51, wherein thethird group of data relates to the first group of data and to the secondgroup of data.
 53. The method according to claim 51, wherein the thirdgroup of data is stored in memory in a data base.
 54. The methodaccording to claim 51, wherein the third group of data includes trackinginformation.
 55. The method according to claim 50, further comprising astorage device coupled to the processor, the processor programmed totransmit a third group of data to the storage device.
 56. The methodaccording to claim 55, wherein the storage device is a tape drive. 57.The method according to claim 50, wherein the first protocol is FIXprotocol.
 58. The method according to claim 50, wherein the at least onefirst group of data and the at least one second group of data arereceived and transmitted electronically.
 59. The method according toclaim 50, wherein the at least one first group of data and the at leastone second group of data are received and transmitted optically.
 60. Themethod according to claim 50, wherein the at least one first group ofdata includes transaction information.
 61. The method according to claim60, wherein the first group of data includes information relating to aplurality of transactions.
 62. The method according to claim 50, whereinthe at least one second group of data includes at least one ofacknowledgment information and confirmation information.
 63. The methodaccording to claim 50, wherein a first group of data is received fromeach of a plurality of first systems, and a second group of data isreceived from each of a plurality of second systems.
 64. The methodaccording to claim 50, wherein the at least one first system is acustomer system and the at least one second system is a financial marketsystem.